Hidden Pictures

Loved the book. So many twists that I did not see coming! The child's drawings throughout the book made it so much more creepy and intriguing. The main character is a recovering addict, clean for over a year. Her sponsor finds her a great paying job as a nanny for a wealthy family. The family consists of a mom, a dad, and one child; Teddy. Teddy is an excellent child who loves to draw and seems to have a very active imagination. Teddy even has an imaginary friend named Anya, who he draws pictures of. The MC feels like she's hit the jackpot when she lands the nanny position. She gets to move into the guest house (which she has all to herself), the pay is incredible, Teddy and her really bond, she gets along great with Teddy's parents and they make her feel like almost a part of the family, she gets to swim in their pool, and goes for runs around the ritzy neighborhood, and even meets the handsome guy who mows the family's yard and they seem to hit it off great! However, things take a sinister turn when Teddy's drawings get creepier and creepier and each one put together with the next seem to tell a dark and ominous story. Children Teddy's age should not be drawing pictures like these! Then she meets the odd woman who lives next door. The strange neighbor tells her about the ghostly legend of the previous tenant of the guesthouse she's now living in. A beautiful young foreigner, named Anne, who comes to live with her distant family and moves into the very guest house she's now living in. The young woman is beautiful and catches the eye of suitors, but to the disappointment of her family, she's uninterested in following the rules of the social norms, and keeps to herself and her drawings. She enjoyed exploring the wooded area behind the property and drawing beautiful pictures. Until one day it seems she goes missing and is never heard from again. What happened to Anne? Could Anne have any relation to Teddy's drawings and imaginary friend Anya?

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I loved this book! As a full-time working mom x2 with very little free time, I don’t have a lot of time to spend reading. However, I somehow managed to read this book in a little over 24 hours. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book because I NEEDED to know how it was going to end! Props to the author for his intriguing writing style. I was pulled in right from the beginning. Hidden Pictures follows Mallory, a recovering addict who is trying to secure employment to help her move beyond the halfway house she is currently living in. Her sponsor, Russell, sets her up with a live-in babysitting job for Carol & Ted. Carol works at the VA as a psychiatrist while Ted’s career isn’t revealed until much later in the story. They need a live-in babysitter for their 5 year old son, Teddy, before he begins kindergarten after the summer. Mallory & Teddy get along really well right from the beginning! They spend the summer having a lot of fun. As the story progresses, Teddy begins drawing pictures that are a little concerning. The pictures lead Mallory on a hunt for more information about an unsolved murder that occurred in the same house. The actual pictures included in the novel really added context to what Mallory was seeing. Mallory’s backstory was both heartbreaking and eye-opening. Her addiction began like so many others’ has and it took her life on a downward spiral before she was able to pull herself out of it. The author did a great job of describing addiction and the hold it has on the addict’s life. I was rooting for Mallory from the beginning. It was easy to connect with her and want her to have a happy ending. Mallory spends most of the book trying to decipher what Teddy’s pictures mean. What she finds out was not expected by anyone, least of all, me. I did not see that coming at all! It really caught me off guard and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Overall, Hidden Pictures was so very well written. The twists, mystery and paranormal components of the story made this one of the quickest reads for me in a long time. I can see why it was bestseller. I will definitely keep an eye out for more from Jason Rekulak!

This book was incredible! I could not put it down once I started! The author’s writing style absorbs you and makes you feel as if you’re right there in the book with the characters - seeing, feeling, and smelling every thing. It was an easy book to read, no confusing story line or jumping from one time to another. This book had a major twist close to the end and I for sure didn’t see it coming although I had suspicions something was off- not giving any spoilers though!! The very last page made my eyes water - after all that took place, it was the perfect ending

Mallory was a runner in high school, the sixth fastest runner in her age group in her state. Her future looked bright. She had a full ride scholarship to a highly rated university until she suffers a common but painful injury and is given pain pills. She is injured again, and this time the pills aren't enough. She is introduced to much harder drugs, and soon is an addict. After a cab driver revives her when she eventually overdoses, Mallory fights hard to regain her sobriety. Now 21, Mallory is due to leave the sober house where she has lived while transitioning from active addict to an addict who is 20 months sober. But she has nowhere to go: her mother has washed her hands of Mallory due to her addiction; as have all her friends. Seeing her dilemma, her sponsor and new running coach, recommends her for a position as a nanny for a young child before the child starts kindergarten in the fall. She gets the job and her future looks promising. Mallory is the kind of babysitter I would have wanted for my kids, even with her past as a drug addict. Her addiction history is buried deep in the book, and explains why her recovery coach was willing to recommend her for the job. My heart broke for her. It isn't the last time it was broken reading the book. As she starts her new job, where her new employer is fully aware of her addiction and hard won recovery, Mallory falls in love with her new charge. As she and the child bond, Mallory sees her employers have the lifestyle she could have had, and lost due to her past. The child starts giving Mallory pictures he draws during his Quiet Time (the Hidden Pictures in the title). They start as the typical scribbling of a young child, progressing to vivid and detailed works of art. Mallory soon realizes it isn’t her charge who is drawing them. The drawings definitely add to the creepy atmosphere of the book as it pulls you deeper into the mystery of who drew them and why: Mallory's charge or the woman who allegedly haunts the house. Mallory is a young woman I can identify with. The author brings her story to the reader as someone who deserves sympathy, especially as the book continues. She meets people in the neighborhood, including a man who is attractive and seems to admire Mallory. Mallory, ashamed of her past, tells a story to the new people in her life which is widely different than the truth. Her backstory, when shown to be false, slows others from whom she later needs help. The parents are, at first, people who want only the best for their child. However, as the drawings become more detailed, the mother begins to change her attitude and hides the child's drawing material. I come to despise this woman. As the drawings become more detailed, Mallory becomes determined to discover who is drawing them and why. She learns a woman was murdered in the small cottage at the back of her employers' property, and Mallory becomes convinced this is the key to the mysterious drawings. This book has twists and turns that left me gasping as I turned each page, revealing more of the mystery of the drawings, thinking "No, that can't be right." After the first twist (I can't reveal because it would be a spoiler), which changed the mystery into something completely different than what I expected, and I was hooked. The pacing of the story never lags. The author carefully hides the full plot until the last chapter which is one year later. The storyline is complete. The end was my last heartbreak. There is no happily ever after for Mallory. Although her future looks promising, she won't forget the summer she spent babysitting and the love she had developed with her charge. Hidden Pictures was beautifully written. It keeps the reader guessing without the reader knowing they are guessing until he makes a twist or turn. I can hear the book calling to me to reread it as I write. I will, as soon as the echoes die away. Readers of fast paced, non-stop guessing should add this book to their pile of To Be Read. I am sorry it took me so long to read it.

I loved everything about this except the ending; it was underwhelming but wrapped up nicely afterwards. The story had my heart racing and I was so enthralled, even when the pieces first started falling into place, but then out of nowhere comes this extremely mundane explanation that took me out of the creepy world that I had been in. I liked the characters and felt that they were well developed. Bonus points for the mentions of Drexel University (those always make me happy). I didn’t think you needed the pictures to understand the story but this does add to the creep factor. I still recommend this despite my feelings about the ending.

This was a great concept. It can be an addicting read. The illustrations and how they are presented are a big part of that. I gave it 3 stars rather than 4 or 5 because I was often reading it out of annoyance and wondering why the characters were so irrational, and generally creating their own problems. It is also very linear. Mild spoilers ahead, but you get quite a bit of the book spoiled just by reading the synopsis. The plot more is less revealed by the synopsis and is based on ghosts being tangibly real, which again is just kind of frustrating to read. I think it would be more interesting if the twists and turns were plausible, rather than having to do with ghosts tangibly possessing people and affecting the world. There are also few enough characters that you can correctly assume who the bad guys are and I was a little bit annoyed that there wasn't more to it. The prose felt overly simple but to the writer's credit that makes it easy to read and sometimes chilling when it just casually describes creepy things that occur. There were no real life kind of themes I could relate to or find interest in. It just felt kind of fake like a fairy tale. The lesson is that some people are crazy and ghosts can get you. A "twist" is that the main character has written this book to tell the story in their words and perspective, but this wasn't really explored too much as far as how perspectives can be different. I found this on somebody's scifi or fantasy list, which it is not. Young adult paranormal stuff.

Creeped me out immediately and yet held my attention till the end! Highly recommend if you like an unsettling story that still has a solid plot.

I thought this was a pretty exciting thriller/supernatural horror novel in that the author manages to keep the reader guessing and keeps them on their heels for a good portion of the plot. I suppose with this style of genre at points a reader’s likeability for the novel (or lack thereof) rests on their willingness to suspend a certain amount of disbelief, and that is certainly the case here with Hidden Pictures. I overlooked a few of these “jump the shark” moments because in the grand scheme of things this was a mostly effectively done mystery with some intense and creepy moments. One of the things that works, in my opinion, is how it is told from Mallory’s point of view. Mallory definitely comes across as a sympathetic character, however, given her past troubles and history, there is a level of indefiniteness in what she is telling us: Are we to be completely trusting her judgement? Or is there a level of cloudiness or murkiness that skews what is real? It is that gray area, that doubt cast, which keeps us guessing as to what is reality and what is illusion. Had this been told via third person, I don’t think the book would have had the same effect. But obviously, the pictures that Teddy presents to Mallory are simply one of the most effective elements contained within, and add an entirely new dimension to this genre. The illustrations go from innocent to cryptic to quite disturbing and alarming. Alongside Mallory’s story she tells us, these illustrations give way to another disturbing story that presents itself, one that lingers in the background but comes into focus. The pictures take on a life of their own in some respects, and lead to a frantic and chaotic finish. Overall, Hidden Pictures is one of those hyped-up thrillers that mostly lives up to the billing in my opinion. It has a unique quality in being an “illustrated mystery” and it was definitely a page turner with a dark and unsettling atmosphere. This would be one definitely to pick up during Halloween season.

is nice

Suficientemente original e intrigante. No soy un lector rápido pero me atrapó tanto que lo acabe en 3 días.

For our May’s book club pick, we dove into Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak and WOW, I loved it! From the very first page, Rekulak’s pacing had me completely immersed in Mallory’s world. The eerie mystery unfolds so seamlessly that you barely realise how deep you’re getting until you’re too hooked to put it down. One of the things I loved most was that every single thing you learn about the characters has a purpose by the end. Nothing is random, everything ties back in, making for such a satisfying read. And the twists! Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was completely wrong in the BEST way. Rekulak does such a fantastic job of leading you down one path only to surprise you with something even better. URGH and the epilogue. I cried. The way I cared about these characters really surprised me. If you love a thriller that keeps you guessing and delivers a truly rewarding ending, this one is a must!

ホラーだと思っていたが、スリラーに近いですね。 自分は予想しながら読むタイプではないので、２つのどんでん返しには見事に騙されました。 無数にちりばめられたイラストが効果的で、特に最後の一枚には涙しました。 星４つにしたのは、ストーリーに若干不自然さがあったこと。中盤まで主人公マロリーの優柔不断な行動に共感しにくかったところ。でもよかった。星４．５ぐらいかな。

Definitely a must read. All thriller/horror lovers are gonna love this book. Fast-paced & amazingly written. I wish I ordered the hardcover, paperback had xerox print of the images. But the plot’s worth every penny. Little predictable but interesting enough. Received in good paperback condition. Print & paper quality’s good.